June 11, 2026 — Northeast Florida (First Coast) new business activity

Northeast Florida logged 563 new business filings the week of May 21 to 27, down about 24% from the prior week.

Filings fell in almost every county this time. Duval dropped by 107. Among industries, hospitality and tourism fell the most, down 23 to 27. A few places still grew. Putnam added 4 filings, rising to 17.

Steady growth over the past 13 weeks with a dip this past week pulling the average down.

The bold line is the 13-week average. Read it for the longer trend. The thin line is each week's count, which swings week to week.

Technology & Media grew the most this week, 8 more (up 80.0%). Hospitality & Tourism dropped the most, 23 fewer (down 46.0%).

Duval led the region this week with 359 new filings. 1 other county also grew from the week before.

• A developer broke ground on May 20, 2026 on Southbank Residences on Museum Circle in downtown Jacksonville. It is a $202.7 million project with a 25 story tower, an eight story building, and 395 apartments plus a waterfront restaurant, rooftop lounge, and marina. The Jacksonville City Council approved $59 million in incentives in October 2024. The build is expected to take 30 to 36 months, finishing in late 2028 to early 2029. A long downtown build means steady work for construction and trades firms in Duval for years, the same group that made up 55 of this week's filings. Jax Daily Record, 2026-05-20
• A May 21, 2026 market analysis projects Jacksonville's industrial building pace will slow to less than a quarter of the prior year's total in 2026. Industrial space is growing just 0.9%. Project completions are at their lowest level since 2018. The port and the highway corridors near the Imeson Park and Oceanway area draw the strongest logistics investor interest. Even with fewer new warehouses going up, demand near the port keeps logistics a real opportunity for the 36 transportation and logistics firms that started this week. Jax Daily Record (citing Marcus and Millichap 2026 Jacksonville Industrial Investment Midyear Outlook), 2026-05-21
• The Ocean Alliance carrier group, which includes CMA CGM, COSCO, and Evergreen, added weekly direct container sailings from JAXPORT's Blount Island terminal to ports in Vietnam, China, South Korea, and Japan as part of a 2026 network change. More direct Asia shipping into Jacksonville can feed new trucking and warehousing businesses with cargo to move. Hoodline (citing Jacksonville Business Journal and SeaNews/Journal of Commerce), 2026-04-12

If you sell to new businesses here, Jacksonville and the rest of Duval are still where most of the work is, with 359 of this week's 563 filings. Volume cooled from the prior week, down about 24%. The biggest groups week to week are professional service firms, property holding companies, construction and trades, and administrative support. Tech, wholesale, and manufacturing are small but moving up. Most of these are brand-new LLCs that need banking, insurance, bookkeeping, and basic services right away.

These counts come from new business filings registered with the State of Florida for the seven counties in Northeast Florida: Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, Putnam, and St. Johns. We count each active formation once and group it by industry, county, and city. We wait about two weeks after the week closes for the state to finish recording all of its filings, so the counts here are complete and accurate. Industry groupings use a plain-language category map.

Frequently asked questions

Why are this week's filings lower than the week before?

Filings fell across almost every county and most industries, not in one spot. The region went from 738 to 563, with Duval alone down 107.

Where are most new businesses starting?

Duval County, with 359 of the 563 filings, and within it Jacksonville with 337. St. Johns was a distant second at 72.

What kind of businesses are these?

Mostly LLCs, 498 of the 563. The largest groups are professional services at 73 and property holding companies at 64.